2016 Formula 1 British Grand Prix: Qualifying Report
Qualifying for the British Grand Prix saw Nico Hulkenberg set the ninth fastest time of the day. He is expected to start the race from eighth place. Teammate Sergio Perez is expected to start from P10.
P9* Nico Hülkenberg VJM09-03
Q1: 1:32.349
Q2: 1:31.770
Q3: 1:32.172
Nico: “It looks like I will be starting from P8 and that’s pretty much where we expected to be. It was very tight with McLaren and Toro Rosso in that session and the margins were very small. Unfortunately my final lap in Q3 was deleted because I ran a little bit wide through Copse corner and couldn’t keep the car inside the track limits. Without that, I would have been a place higher up. I think the stewards are correct to insist on these track limits and it’s something we discussed yesterday in the drivers’ meeting, so you have to accept the penalty. Looking ahead to the race, there’s talk of showers once again, and to be honest I don’t mind if we get some rain because it would mix things up. Whatever happens, I just want to have a strong race and bring home some good points.”
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P11* Sergio Perez VJM09-02
Q1: 1:32.336
Q2: 1:31.875
Sergio: “The changes we made to the car after final practice helped us take a step in the right direction. Missing out on Q3 was not ideal, especially by such a small margin, but I am confident we can make good progress in the race. We have the advantage of being the first car with a free choice of tyres and, if I can make a good start, we should be able to fight for some points. Overtaking is quite tricky here so the first few laps are very important and you need to get good track position. Degradation is high, but we have done a lot of work to manage it and we have a good understanding of the tyres, so I think we can be competitive tomorrow.”
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director
“A solid performance today on both sides of the garage. We had the pace to get both cars into Q3, but Sergio just missed the cut. However, starting from P8 and P10 gives us a good opportunity to score points at our home race. It’s a shame that Nico’s best effort from Q3 was deleted, but in the end it only cost him a place on the grid. For the race tomorrow we feel optimistic: our Friday simulations suggest we have competitive race pace and the car is working well with its latest updates. I would expect a dry race, but you never know what will happen at Silverstone and we will be ready to make the most of things come rain or shine.”
*Both drivers are expected to move up a place on the grid following a penalty for Sebastian Vettel.
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